


the art of sacrifice (and living anyway)

by PilotStudios



Series: Franky's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Self-Sacrifice, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27546406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PilotStudios/pseuds/PilotStudios
Summary: Franky and Robin talking about sacrifice, and living anyway. Post Enies Lobby.
Relationships: Franky & Nico Robin
Series: Franky's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013526
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	the art of sacrifice (and living anyway)

**Author's Note:**

> written for day 9 (sacrifice) of whumptober. find it on tumblr [here](https://flimflamfranky.tumblr.com/post/631544799234850816/day-9-sacrifice)

Franky should be celebrating.

They had made it, all of the them. The Straw Hats, the Galley-La foremen, his family - they went against the World Government, and they won, and they all, every last one of them, had made it out alive.

Himself included.

He should be happy. Hell, he should be fucking _ecstatic _! Everyone else was - even the Straw Hats were in bright spirits, even though they just said a tear-jerking good-bye to their ship (not that he had been crying). They certainly deserved to celebrate - they had done what Franky had thought was impossible.__

____

And he had been right there with them. He had done the impossible too. So, why the hell was he feeling so un-super?

____

He hated it. And he hated introspection more (too much of a coward to see what he might find), so he did what he did best - he found some other problem to fix.

____

And there was one person who could use a little more fixin’.

____

“Nico Robin,” Franky greeted, as he joined her against the rail. She had been looking over the prow of the ship, staring out at the ocean. The rest of the Straw Hats were clustered nearby, no doubt keeping a close eye on her, but far enough to give them some privacy.

____

“Ah, hello,” Robin said in return, with a faint smile. “I’m surprised to see you over here. Shouldn’t you be with your family?”

____

Franky nearly winced at that - it hadn’t been accusing, but he still felt a pang of guilt. He _should _be with his family. They had come all this way for him, risking their _lives _for him, and yet…____

_______ _ _ _

He didn’t want to examine that too closely. Instead, he shrugged, as casually as he could. “Aw, they can handle a few minutes without me. I just wanted to see how you were holdin’ up.”

_______ _ _ _

“Ah,” Robin said, looking back out to sea. “I’m doing alright. Not quite good, yet, but I think I’ll get there.” She leaned out more, elbows digging into the wood. Franky watched the worn wood splinter slightly, but it didn’t catch in her skin. “It’s a little weird, I’ll be honest.”

_______ _ _ _

“Heh, I know what you mean,” Franky said, without thinking.

_______ _ _ _

Robin’s head instantly snapped around, pining him with her sharp eyes. “Oh?”

_______ _ _ _

Franky shrank back. “Er, don’t read too much into that.”

_______ _ _ _

Robin narrowed her eyes, studying him. “Hm. I haven’t had the chance to ask yet, but are _you _alright?”__

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Hey, no,” Franky said pointing his finger at her. “I came over to comfort you, not the other way around.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Robin raised an eyebrow at him, nonplussed.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Listen,” Franky said, feeling the need to explain himself. “You’ve been through a lot today. You don’t need to worry about me.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“You’ve been through a lot today too,” Robin pointed out.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, but-”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“You were captured, same as me,” Robin continued. “And you had a history with Spandam, and those blueprints. You were hurt. You thought no one was coming for you. And you were willing to give your life to save us. You were in the same position as I was. Don’t you deserve comfort too?”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“It’s not-” Franky spluttered, trying and failing to think of a lie besides the resounding no his heart was telling him. “It’s just different,” he finally mumbled, shoulders hiked up to his ears.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Robin stared at him for a moment, brow creased, before she finally looked away, turning back to the horizon. “Alright. I won’t press.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Silence stretched between them. Franky gazed down at the sea as it splashed against the boat. He considered leaving - he didn’t feel like he was helping much here - but he didn’t really want to leave. He didn’t want to face those un-super feelings. And, maybe a little selfishly, he didn’t want to leave Robin’s side.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

He was busy trying to categorize the different shades of blues in the water in an effort to distract himself, when Robin spoke up.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“May I tell you something?”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, anything.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“I really was ready to sacrifice myself for them,” She said. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to me, just that my life would be over. Maybe not death, but close enough. I didn’t have a plan beyond that. I didn’t think about what I would do if I lived anyway. Does that sound familiar?”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Franky didn’t say anything. He kept his gaze fixed on the rolling sea, fingers digging into the wood rail.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“And it’s…a little overwhelming, now. Thinking about the future,” Robin said. “All those feelings from before, all that guilt and trauma…they’re still there. I have to figure out how to live with that, now. And it’s going to be hard, I know. But…” She looked over at the Straw Hats, and her eyes softened. “I have friends to make it easier.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

She gave his arm a light pat. “Just something to consider.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

And then, she turned away and joined the Straw Hats. They roped her in immediately, cheering and laughing, loud and bright, and she let herself be dragged into their lively celebration. He watched Robin lean over and say something to Luffy, and Luffy swung around towards him.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Franky!!” Luffy yelled, waving his arms wildly. “Come join us!! Oh, and bring those other weird guys too!! Let’s have a party!!!”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Franky blinked, and then smiled, and waved back. “Sure thing, bro!”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

He could think about what Robin said later. But right now, he was gonna do what he did best, and show the Straw Hats’ the best partying they’ve ever seen.

_________ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
